EVERSOLO DMP-A8 Music Streamer DAP DAC Preamp 4GDDR4 64GeMMC AK4191EQ AK4499EX ARC Input IIS Output UV Meters spectrums

Before the DMP-A8, I first purchased the Eversolo DMP-A6 Master Edition and found the sound to be bright, analytical, borderline harsh, compressed, and thin...basically not realistic or natural like my existing sources. Many have written about these traits and I confirmed this in my use. With the DMP-A6 ME thru my Ayon Audio Spirit III Class A tube amp, Ayon Audio Triton, CA Edge A, and Legacy Audio speakers I experienced the first time these amps sounded bright and fatiguing. Even the WiiM Pro Plus using fixed volume with its economy design and lower end AKM DAC sounded more open, airy, more warm, and more realistic in blind AB comparison, and at 1/5 the price. My intended use is as an all in one unit utilizing both single ended and XLR analog outputs with good volume control being important so I can drive power amps directly. I tested the DMP-A6 ME thru multiple different integrated amps and directly driving power amps including with fixed volume and all the filters. The best results were thru a Anthem Statement A2 power amp with Slow Roll-off DAC filter, which was still bright sounding but not as fatiguing as the other more accurate amps. Also remember there is an EQ where the treble can be trimmed but I am a believer in testing flat to see how the unit really sounds. As I really liked the software, interface, and quality I decided I would give Eversolo another try so I purchased the DMP-A8 with time to compare them side by side before the return window was up. The high end feature set in this A8 is very good and the difference in sound thru the A8 was immediate and overwhelmingly better with a very full, detailed, warm, and natural sound having better highs, extended bass, and a natural textured midrange. Yes there is a large price difference but those who say these two units sound similar must not have adequate amps and speakers, as it is night and day difference between these two units...think 1990's digital verses analog. The A8 sound was very full and all encompassing with a wide and deep soundstage and the micro details were exceeding many other high end DAC's I own and have tried...all without being too bright or glared over and still while providing that warm textured midrange timbre that is so important. Though the A8 is not the very best combination I have heard, it is 95% there and certainly at the best price. I have no doubt this AKM Velvet Sound Veritas combination is a lot of the difference over the ESS DAC's in the DMP-A6 ME. Either way, there was not one setup (including in my sound treated near anechoic home theater) where the A8 did not trump the A6...and yes it is much more expensive but given the many features, excellent DAC, digital side DSP, Linear Power supply, analog inputs, and very good preamp using r2r volume control it is worth the money. If you do not have the budget there are other options (including anything from Cambridge Audio and even the low cost WiiM Pro Plus) that sound more natural without the glare. If you like a more etched, detailed, bright sound the A6 might be for you but if you have bright sounding speakers, look out. I think the extended range, immediacy, sound decay, and naturalness of an accurate Class A tube amplifier really shows the weaknesses of the DMP-A6 ME and the strengths of the DMP-A8 as Class D amplifiers, like so many persons are using now, haze over the frequency extremes and retract the midrange (I tested a Rotel Class D power amp as well). Furthermore, the DMP-A8 destroys the A6 ME in the quality manner in which it smooths out old recordings like the classic Jazz and 1980's rock...old Rolling Stones albums sound really good. A great test of how well the upper, middle, and lower frequencies can be handled by the DMP-A8 verses the A6 is Wynton Marsalis's Unforgivable Blackness...which is a masterpiece that is very well recorded. The downside of this A8 is that it is Chi-Fi so reliability could very well be an issue but looking at the components and high quality and intelligent layout of the circuit board...I hope I am wrong as the warranty of 1 year for a component at this cost shows little confidence from Eversolo. Either way, I am keeping the A8 and have returned the A6 ME, but I will be sure to buy an extended warranty for at least 3 years and I will certainly come back with comments if it fails. Read more

OMG, this thing is SO AWESOME. Build quality is great, though the chassis is a bit more petite than I was expecting, even knowing the dimensions in advance. It’s no bigger than it needs to be. But it functions perfectly and the design and user interface is so well thought out. I had it up and running within an hour, including loading over 500 gigs of flac files onto the 2 terabyte onboard m.2 memory board that I bought separately. I can vouch that the WD Black SN850X 2TB NVMe SSD (also available on Amazon) works seamlessly with the Eversolo. I just love this streamer/player. It sounds great. In a quick, casual, sighted A/B comparison, the default sound of this unit is certainly comparable to an older, but high end Sony SACD player (SCD-XA5400es), both connected via balanced XLR outputs. I’m very happy with the sound quality, and it’s almost endlessly adjustable with the onboard digital filter profiles, equalizer, and DSP/room correction. But the best part is the almost endless control over my music collection as well. It’s incredibly flexible while still being easy to use, especially given the potential complexity of what it’s capable. It’s been a month and I can say that it’s been seemingly bulletproof in operation so far. No crashes, no latency, no odd glitches or bugs. It just works. Just be warned that when you first boot it up, it’ll probably go through a series of automatic software updates once it’s been connected to your WiFi network. Eversolo has apparently issued a number of recent updates, and this whole initial process took probably 20 minutes of repeated downloads, updates, and reboots. Must’ve been about 7-8 of them for my particular unit. And I love the way the Eversolo App works seamlessly with the unit to provide ultimate remote control from the listening position. The only function it does not provide is turning the unit on initially, which must be done with the supplied remote unless you have the DMP-A8 connected to a wired LAN. I downloaded this Eversolo control app to my iPad instead of my phone, and I HIGHLY recommend this over using it via phone. I’m sure either would work, but obviously it’s much easier to see and use on the larger screen of a tablet. I would find using it on a phone to be tedious and seriously limiting in terms of utility. There’s so much to unpack with what this unit can do. Sure, it doesn’t have the big, sexy screens like the HiFi Rose units. But it just WORKS, and works well. I feel that I’ve got a whole new relationship to my large music collection now that it’s at my fingertips. The folks at Eversolo have hit it out of the park with this one. It’s that good. Read more